Cutting mechanism for harvesters



Dec. 4, 1923. 1,476,52i

M. M. KELL CUTTING MECHANISM FOR HARVESTERS Filed Aug. 20. 1921 Il Timm Patented Dec. 4, 1923..

s'riis MATTHEW Vi. HELL, OF TULIA, TEXAS.

CUTTING MECHANISM FOR HARVESTERS.

Application Ied August 20, 1921. Serial No. 493,888.

To all 107mm t may kamera: u Y,

4Be it known that I, MATTHEW M. Kunt., a vcitizen of the United States, residing at Tulia, in the county of Swisher and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutting Mechanism for IIarvesters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesl to harvesters and has special reference to the cutting mechanism of corn harvesters, the object of the invention being to produce a cutting mechanism whichwill operate continuously and will positively and effectually` cut through t-he stalks of grain in such a 'manner ythat the stalks will move rearwardly to the elevator of the harvester. The invention also seeks to provide a cutting mechanism which may be readily applied to any corn harvester and which will operate easily without eX- cessive friction, and the parts of which will be so arranged that repairs may be easily made when necessary.

The invention is* illustrated in the accom- Vpanying drawings, 1n whiche- Figure 1 is a plan view of a cutting mechanism embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view partly iii-rear elevation and partly in transverse section of the cutting mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the main cutter and the mounting for the same;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the stationary cutter;

Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of the supporting bar or bracket for themoving cutter.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 denotes the lifting fingers of a corn'harvester which may be of the usual construction and which project forward from the main frame of the harvester and pass under and lift the stalks which may have fallen to the ground. In carrying out my invention, I secure to the under sides of the fingers a bracket or bar 2 which, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, bridges the space between the lifting fingers 1 and has a forwardly projecting arm at one end which is rigidl secured to the adjacent lifting finger. I also secure to the lifting finger more remote from the said forwardly projecting arm, a stationary knife 3 which has its cutting edge disposed between the lifting iingers and diverging rearwardly from the side of the said finger, as' clearly shown. Near its rear wider end, an arcuate notch or recess 4 is formed in the cutting edge of the said knife to co-operate with the movable cutterl as will presently morev fully appear. The bracket 2 is recessed, as shown at 5, at one end-so that it may engage against the edge of the adjacent lifting finger, and the stationary knife atits wider end restsl upon and is secured to the said lifting fingerand the upper side of the bracket 2, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Upon the forwardly projectingv arm Aof the bracket 2, I provide a vertical spindle 6 having its uppery end threaded, as shown at 7. The movable cutter is mounted upon this spindle 6 and comprises a'hub or shell 8 externally threaded at its upper end and provided intermediate its ends with an annular rib or flange 9, the bore of the hub or shell being flared at both ends so as to accommodate roller bearings 10, as shown and as will be readily understood. The roller bearings lit between the flared ends of the hub and the spindle 6 and thereby maintain the hub in a vertical posi-v tion and reduce the frictional wear between the spindle and the hub. The movable cut- Yter consists of a dome-shaped disc 11 having a central opening whereby it may be slipped over the hub 8 and rest upon the flange 9, the edge of the discbeing beveled,

yas shown at 12, and formed intoteeth 13 whereby an effective cutting edge is pro-y duced. A gearring 14 is disposed around the hub 8 and rests upon the disc 11 at thethe Vupper bearings 10 and retaining nuts 17 are mounted upon the threaded end l7 of the spindle over the said washer so as to positively secure the hub and the bearings in position upon the spindle. A dust cap 18 is engaged over the upper threaded end of the hub and encloses the hub and the spindle and the parts mounted on the spindle so as to exclude dust and dirt which would interfere with the easy operation of the parts and create excessive wear between the contacting surfaces.

A transverse shaft 19 is mounted upon the frame of the harvester and is equipped at one end with a beveled pinion 2O which meshes with the gear ring 14C and at its opl posite end is provided with a beveled pinioo j ion Ql'nieshing'ivitha beveled-fgear on the front Yend of :the driving shaft 23. The driving shaft 28 is the same shaft which is now generally provided upon corn harvesters and is ordinarily equipped with a crank disc at its front end Whicherank-disc is connected with a pitinan to drive a reciproeating cutter.

It is thought the operation 0i?l the mechanisniwvillbe readily understood. 1li; will he readily -noteduiponreference toFigs. l and Zitiliat a portion Off-thercutting'edge oftlie disc'lll projects over the cuttingy edge of the stationary vknife '3 yand the parts `are Lso proportioned andarranged thatJ as each `suc-` cessive toothlI advancestolhe cuttingposition to engage a stalk the -toothavillbe opposi-teA thef baseof the arcuate notch or recess l and?tliestalk will, consequently, berorced intofsaid notch or Ivrecess Softhat itwill' he held'by the :saine until'fthecutting toothrl?) passes @through the lsta'lk. rllhe ystalk "will, therefore, "be cutthrough -eleaiilyr and rapidly and, as the'toothinoves` rearwardly at the cutting-v pointe itiwillt pushv the `lower .end of thev cut stalk-:rearwardly in i'thef "direction of' the elevator'oi the Vharvesterby'wliich it iis carriedto tlieA-'huslrin'g mechanism orito such other'mechanisin-or point of delivery as'. mayi be featured inA the: machine' to which the cutterlis applied,:the lower end ofthe elevator: inpracticei being immediately adj aycent/the cut-ter.

It Will be readilyinoted'thativliave provided kan exceedingly :simple cutting inechanisin Whichwill operatef` positively-"tosever the stal-ks las the maohine-isdrawn "over" the a-iiel'd andas" the :movable cutter moves continuously in Vone directionfthemachine is ireedi'fromthe jarring due tothe use'of reciprocatingl -cutter andf-caused by the :stoppage-and reversal of direction of-movement 'by .such cutter, the :result irheing that fless pouver is required :tto -opera-te: the I mach-ine l and the life "oi" the vmachine wis i prolonged.

The j: particui ar- :Shape` of f the r. rotating Y'cutter tends to shed ler turn aside anyleaves or other parts vwhich might lotliciavise accumuv K Should it be necessary to remove either cutter for any reason ready-accessfmaythe'had to thesame and it will not be necessary to disassemble the en- :tire f mechanism. Y

Having' thus described the inventionyvvliat 1s claimed as `nevvi-s: v

l. "A A cutting vrmechanism for harvesters coinp-risingiin comhinationa forwardly Aprojecting `stationary knife, a verticalspi-ndle spaced laterallyfroin said-knife, a hub fitted vertically/:about said spindle, anti-friction hea-rings interposed? between` the ends of; the spindle and the end oi' the-hi'i-h,-a denieshaped cutting disc fitted concentric-ally upon Vsaidlhuhrandhavinga portion ot its cutting edge overlying the opposed-edge'o'f the vsta tionary cutter,agear ring-resting centrally upon the doineeshape'd disk about' the hub,l

`its cutting edge overlying fthe stationary iknifeyargearl-iing resting uponthe said disc at`I the. centerf thereotabout f the huh, means for securing said gear ring and said 'disci to the'ilange on the. hub, and .a .dust capy mounted on the upper end of the hub.

AIn' testimony Wliereo f1 eaiiix my signature.

MA'DTH'EW'M. HELL [ne] Y late upon the cutting mechanism and Vclog the Aactionwo the Y saine. 

